HELP!

 

Someone was playing with my camera...

Just thought I would share the random pictures.

I think it was son #2.. but not sure..

Happy November 1st!

Laura

Happy Halloween!

Baby and I went to the Halloween parade at school. I think it is really fun to see all the costumes. I mean- personally- our family waits until the last possible moment- and then we scurry around the house trying to find a costume. (It's a Halloween tradition on my side of the family.) But some people are so creative and clever!

So proceed scrolling down to enjoy the parade of pictures...

Here we are... making our way to the school's large field where the parade will happen. Of course baby has to stop and play on all the playground equipment first.

Thank heavens for a box of old costumes! This use to be son #2.

I think this is pretty common- at our school the children are suppose to dress up as a character from a book they have read. Or like. Or at least have the hard copy of...

Pirate School is a really cute book. Lucky for us- we have a Pirate costume from a past Disney land trip. (Thanks grandma for buying that costume- It's been 4 years and we're still lovin it!)

Here he is sitting with his class... what a cutie!

Son #2 wanted to be a hockey player- but he sprung on me last night he's suppose to do a "Book Talk" in class about his costume book. Next months book club book would have been PERFECT- The Million Dollar Goal by Dan Gutman... but we had to read a simple hockey book this morning instead...for his book review.

Here he is with his class. It doesn't seem fair- Mother Nature can have such a cruel sense of humor. Third grade is tough- do you see the size difference of the kids? It's hard to be a "dainty butterfly" when you are a head taller than all the boys. .. and I doubt anyone is making fun of that nerd in the the background... yet look at my son and the small Indian... such huge size differences!

Here's a classic. I loved this classic ghost-

holes cut in a sheet....

Okay- here is son #1... with the book

The Kid Who Ran for President
Doesn't he look sharp?

Here he is at school. He didn't want to dress up. The very last second- he changed his outfit.

(ugh!)

Another Indiana Jones...

Even the parents dressed up....

yet another Indiana Jones???

or is that just how he dresses?

The teacher that put- it- all- on- the- line- this man. I don't even know who he is... but green tights... Peter Pan!?

Some people have an abundance of confidence!

Last night was our church Halloween party. (Sounds a bit conflicting doesn't it? Church...Halloween?)

Anyway- I work with the Primary so I dressed up. I started out - with a black skirt, white shirt and black vest... I think I was thinking a Nun or Witch... ( there we go with the conflicts..) and then I pulled my hair up in pig-tails and made a mouse/cat face... I wanted to be a "church mouse"...

My husband has a problem with costumes you have to explain. Those are the only kinds I know how to do. One year we went as Clark Kent and Lois Lane and all our boys were Superman. (Supermen) .. He didn't like that one.

He didn't dress up this year. OH! ONE year- He full on dressed up as Captain Hook... I was Wendy, son peter pan and one son the crocodile... he said he felt "silly" that year. ( I borrowed the costume so he wouldn't have a home spun/ lame costume...) I give up.. I don't really like Halloween anyway... but I'm not a party poop er- we pass out candy... we just don't do a good job of dressing up.

don't hold it against us.

Laura

How Sweet

This picture is for all of us - who wonder what a daughter would ever look like. We bought this mullet last year for Halloween- as part of a "retro-hockey player costume". Last time my mom was here... my husband was wearing it, sitting on the couch watching TV and my mom mistook him for me. (Unbelievable- right?) I mean my hair doesn't look like this... right? Right!!??!

Well not now anyway- I got my hair cut.

Heath is in a cute dress-up stage. I think he's a Ninja Turtle.

Son #1 asked if he could read to the baby and have it count as his 20 minutes of reading. This is how I found them. Too cute.

But um... where are the books? Just kidding....

this picture just pulls on my heartstrings... My first baby.. .. snuggling with my last baby. How our family began and ended. (Not that it ever ends really- ) It's just a sweet photo. Son #1 is the best big brother to our baby..

Spooky Hike

One of our neighbors hosted a "Spooky Hike" for Family Home Evening. At 7:00 pm families gathered in the townhouse parking lot equip with flashlights and shoes ( our kids run around barefoot most the time) to go on a hike in the dark. My husband took son #2, son #1 was "working the trail". ( I guessed he and a bunch of the other 12 year olds were going to be scaring people along the way...) I stayed behind with sons #3, #4. (Son 3 was having a melt down and hysterical.

It reminded me of an activity my sister and her family enjoy. Even when her kids were really small, like toddlers, her husband use to take the kids out on "flashlight walks". The kids would get soooo excited and it was a nice break for my sister. I think it would be fun to go on a flashlight walk before Halloween and just enjoy everyone's decorations. We might do the hike again- tomorrow night. (Tonight- we have HOCKEY and don't get back until bedtime.)

New fitness teams..
The Sharks (Husband, sons #1, #3) vs The Capitals (Mom, sons 2,4)
I just got back with an hour walk with baby.... but this week is going to be hard... I've only got one hockey kid on my team.

Black Knights ROCK!

I know you have been sitting on pins and needles wondering... wondering who? WHO? Which team won the fitness challenge this week?

Hockey was rained out yesterday so we made our way over to the dollar theaters for a movie. We had some time to kill before the movie and were looking for an excuse to eat out- so we grabbed some lunch. Trying to sneak in last minute points- I let everyone order drinks... and I ordered a water. (1 pt) I got a thumbs up from my team captain ( son #1) Then when we ordered our meals we all ordered, but my husband ordered last... soup and salad! (like.. 8 points!) .. he's so sneaky! But the joke was on him... maybe he got to enjoy his diet coke while I settled with water--- but I got to enjoy southwestern spring rolls... yummy!

The week ended with:

Black Knights 475 points to a mere 385 points from the Red Dragons.

Yup- my team won.
Our team captain gets to pick FHE treats tomorrow night. Double Stuffed Mint Oreos. (surprise surprise...)
Laura

Funny Fitness

We are in full swing with our Fitness teams. Two nights ago- at dinner, I was pouring drinks and I poured my husband and sons 2 & 3 fruit punch. Then I gave sons 1 &;4 and myself water. (we get points for drinking water... they do not get points for punch.) At first the boys 2 &3 were confused, like, "hey- I got punch and they got water... but why aren't they fussing about that?" Then son 2 says, "HEY! I want water too!". My husband caught on .. and just smirked at me. (I'm sly competitive..."What?" I bat my eyes innocently. "I was just trying to be nice....") They didn't believe it.
So this morning, my husband wakes up early to go for a walk and he only wakes up sons 2 &3 to go with him. (THEY are trying to sneak in workouts without us!) Well that back fired because then they were GRUMPY/sleepy all morning. My husband apologized and promised not to do that again as I had to get them off to school.
But I love it. I volunteered to drive them to school- since they were so sleepy- but I rushed my son off walking to school. They noticed and said, "HEY! We're walking to school too mom- you are so mean!"
It's just funny. Normally they would beg for a ride, beg for fruit punch, etc.. etc.. but these teams make them say and do the funniest things! You've got to try it!
Laura

Pani Po Po

What the ho ho?
Pani Po Po is a slightly sweet type bread... I think it is a Samoan -I'm not 100% sure. (I'll find out for you.) But it is yummy- especially if you don't like super sweet. People have given us Pani Po Po for breakfast , I've had it at dinner pot-lucks too so I'm not sure what it falls under. (A breakfast or dinner/dessert type dish.)

This is something else you can make with that basic bread recipe I've already shared. It's one of those things- you just can't get enough of!


Just as review: The Basic Bread Recipe
2 cups warm water + 2 TBl. yeast + 1/2 cup sugar
Then add 2 1/2 tsp salt + 3 cups flour and mix well.
Then add 1 egg +1/4 cup oil + 3 more cups flour
Knead and let dough rise for 1/2 hour

Here's the Pani Po Po part
You need ...
1 can coconut milk
3 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
5 T corn starch
cook over medium heat until thick
cool and pour into (2) 9X13 pans
Reserve some coconut pudding to brush over hot rolls.

Take egg size balls of dough and place them on top of the pudding. Let rise 30 min.
Bake 375 for 20 min or until rolls are brown.
Brush the coconut pudding over.

It's super yummy.

FHE Lesson

Family Fitness has begun! One and Three are team captains.
(I'm going to start referring to my children by birth order. My husband loves the blog- but is worried that strangers might use the information on our site to "befriend" our children in public. So in attempt to keep them anonymous- a little bit.)

I am on team: BLACK KNIGHTS (Me, son-One and son- Four), my husband is on the other team: RED DRAGONS (My husband, sons Two and Three).
How it works: The center page is our Points Page. It lists the point value of drinking water, eating a serving size of vegetables and points for exercising.
Our Point system:
1 pt for an 8 oz glass of water
3 pts for a serving size of vegetables, 2 pts for eating half a serving size and 1 pt for just eating a few bites.
Then a point for every minute of exercising. (20 min bike ride = 20 points.)
Team captains get to pick teams, name teams, design their point cards, and keep track of points for the week. They are responsible for motivating team members.
By the end of the week- we tally up points and the winning team gets to pick what dessert we enjoy at our next Family Home Evening. Some times I add a surprise "Food Challenge" where I introduce something new to the family and they get extra points for trying... Sometimes it's a fitness challenge. (my boys are really into push-up contests.)
For Family Home Evening- son-One was in charge of the lesson. All the kids came home from school with an assignment to do a fire drill at home.. for homework, so that is what we did. I love it when my kids teach the lesson- it's always a surprise!
Laura

Happy Monday

We had a busy week last week. Yesterday was nice to just let things slow down. After church we just relaxed. Mind you - nothing was done around the house- so today I have my work cut out for me. But sometimes you just have to have a "Barney" day- right? Forget the house work and just follow my two year old around on his adventures.






This costume is at least 12 years old. (My sister passed it down to us- she has pictures of "Barney" days at her house when her daughter was 18 months or so.)
keeping my two year old entertained is a full time job in itself. I have always thought having one child is harder than two. Having this little guy at home by himself is a challenge. He is always busy doing his own thing... if I try to do laundry or dishes... he quickly finds something to do by himself. (TP the bathroom, get into our game closet take out all the pieces, pour the cereal on the floor, it's always something! Why can't it be..."play with the toys we've spend good money on?")
I know alot of you can relate. Just venting. It's Monday... Family Home Evening... and I'm getting my itch to have Family Fitness Teams again. I'll post more about that this week.
We'll pick our teams tonight, get team names, and start a week of challenging each other to eat more vegetables, drink more water and exercises!
Laura

Baby Books

I love giving books for baby gifts. This tradition was inspired by two great women. My grandmother who sent The Little Engine That Could story book along with a toy train set and the mother of my best friends in High School (twins) Irene and Eleanor. She sent books as gifts with the birth of each of my sons. I thought they were such thoughtful gifts.

Mrs. Pfefferman wrote a lovely card encouraging me to read to my children and she hoped her gift would help us start our own family library. (She raised four girls all from a wheel chair- the last two who were TWINS! A truly amazing woman!)

I guess what really touched me was her vision. Especially as a new mother, keeping up with diapers and sleep were my main priorities not browsing book stores for good baby books.


Books are a great baby gift. You don't have to worry about sizes and seasons- or even gender! Find a selection you like- and stock up. You'll always be ready for a baby shower. Baby books are always a thoughtful gift they will enjoy years to come.

Laura

When we first moved into our townhouse- I went about unpacking pictures and placing them against the walls where I wanted them hung.

My baby would crawl around and look at all the pictures. It reminded me of a Montessori philosophy of establishing a kid-friendly or empowering environment .

If you've ever been in a Montessori school pictures are hung knee high- for kids to enjoy. Tables and chairs are all kid sized, brooms and dust pans are kid accessible and kid size so they can use and clean up after themselves, etc...



Since Heath enjoyed this photo so much- I hung it at his level. But I think it's a good thing. When most the household is that size- why not put things at their height?


(You'll notice - our FHE chart isn't at their level- somethings are better hung up and out of reach. :0)





Speaking of Family Home Evening.


Last night- I prepared the lesson. One of my finer lessons.

I've been reading the 7 Habits of Effective People by Stephen Covey. (Actually- the book is hard for me to wade through- I bought the workbook which breaks each principle and chapter down into working steps. ) Anyway- I wanted to talk about our ability to choose our attitude. We might not be able to choose our circumstances, our family, the weather, etc... but we can choose our actions, our thoughts and our words. (This comes from the True to the Faith book the LDS publish.) And that we can't use situations as excuses for our mistakes or unhappiness. WE have the ability to choose.


So I cut out two pictures of boys- one happy I called "Proactive Pete" and a sad looking one I called, "Reactive Robbie".






Then I wrote some situations and possible responses. I passed out the responses and everyone got to read with expression their response. Then we decided if that was something Reactive Robbie would say or Proactive Pete.






Some of the situations were:

1. You wake up late for school and have to run out the door with just toast for breakfast.
2. You want to wear your favorite shirt for school pictures.
3. Every time your family drives to town there is traffic.
4. At P.E the teacher announces you are going to play baseball and you've never played before.

Then the responses had the same number as the situation they related to. Responses were:
1. "Oh Man! I'm late! I better hurry so I'm not late for school. This seems to happen a lot- I should set my own alarm so I can wake up on time!"

1. "MOM! WHY didn't you wake me up earlier! Now I'm late! I'm going to have the worst day ever!"

2. "Mom, where is my favorite shirt? In the Laundry!!?! Why don't you ever wash my clothes! Now I have nothing to wear! I always look like a freak for school pictures."

2. "I wonder where my favorite shirt is... oh Man! It's still dirty. I should have washed it yesterday. I guess I'll wear this shirt- it will have to do."

2. (A few days before picture day) "Mom, could you wash this shirt for me? I want to wear it for picture day. Thanks mom- you're the best!"

3. "I hate traffic. It's so boring. I hate driving. I hate our car, I hate going to town.. What a waste of time!"

3. " ugh- we're stuck in traffic again. What can I do while we sit here? Hey brother you want to play rock-paper-scissors?"

3. "Yuck! Traffic. I'm bored. What can I do while we sit here? Hey mom? Could you quiz me on my times tables? While we are in town- can we stop at the Library and pick up a book on tape so we can listen to it in the car on the way home?"

4. "My parents are the meanest! They never sign me up for any sports. I am going to be so clumsy because I've never played baseball before. I know I'm going to be last picked."

4. "Yikes! I've never played baseball before- I better listen carefully to the rules of the game. It's okay if I'm not the best at baseball. This is my first time playing. I'm just going to try my best and have fun. "

Anyway- we really hammed it up. It was funny.
I ended with a quote from Gordon B Hinkley,
" You can be excellent in every way. You can be first class. There is no need for you to be a scrub. Respect yourself. Do not dwell on unkind things others may say about you. Polish and refine whatever talents the Lord has given you. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life and look for it's opportunities, and forever and always be loyal to the church."

I was wanting to put up the lesson as a reminder for the week. I challenged us all to try and be more Proactive. Take responsibility for our choices and choose to be happy.

I pointed out that the situation was the same for each boy- but they each chose how they were going to act. (RE-act or Pro-act.) I taped the lesson up where they can see- but I was thinking it would be nice to place a bulletin board or magnetic board there and always display the lesson. I'll post a picture later with what I do... Something- anything is better than just taping the lesson to the wall.. but I want a place where we can post what goals we are working on.

Laura

Hockey Saturday

We left the house at 6:45 am and we were back at the house by 8:00 pm.

Don't you wish you were a HOCKEY mom?

Some of you might ask, "How can you spend so much time at the hockey rink? What do you do all day?"

Well- during our first game- Hunter demonstrated to younger brothers how to blow bubbles with gum.



That was soo cute.

(8:00 am game- Hugh did great and scored a goal.)











Then Hugh played with his remote control toy... during Hunters game.







11:00 am game

Hunter played forward in his first game of the day.








Hunter made several assists. (He didn't score the actual goal- but he passed the puck to the player who did make the goal.)


He switched into goalie gear- so he could play goalie in his second game. ( 1:00 pm)





Hunter played a great game as goalie and made some huge saves.









Heath took a quick nap.

We then had a l-o-n-g break until Hatricks game at 4:00 pm.







Heath went to investigate what was inside the cage.











A Guinea Pig!

He had a lot of fun- trying to feed the guinea pig different things.







He even tried to get into it's bag.










Then Hatrick tried to gear himself up for his Hockey games.
(4:00 pm and 5:00 pm.)









He played on both the Mighty and Mini Mite teams.
Then- since we were THERE- my husband put on his Rollerblades and he and the boys played until dark.


It was a long day- I'm tired.
Goodnight!
Laura

Mystery Box

This is a fun box/activity/game/family home evening lesson all in one.

I made this box for a Sharing Time in Primary about the Holy Ghost.

You put an item under the box and let kids put their hands in the holes and feel the item.

THEN they try to explain what they feel- without saying the actual item.

"It's soft, fuzzy,stretchy" but they can't say "sock'.



For younger kids- we set the box like this- and let all the kids see what the person was touching.


It's just fun to do. Kids like sticking their hands into the "unknown".

The point of the lesson is to help them learn about the Holy Ghost and recognize it. "Sometimes it's hard to explain what the Holy Ghost feels like. "

And then reference the scripture in Galatians 5:22 " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith".

Just wanted to share another Family Home Evening family favorite.

I first saw this idea- at a group Family Home evening lesson on my mission. It was a great object- lesson.

Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Hatrick!

He's my six year old- going on 12. Poor guy doesn't have many friends his own age. He's lucky to be able to hang out with his big brothers and their friends.


(picture: just hanging out at hockey.)


This was last year Halloween- Red Power Ranger... so cute









I don't know what to say- he's got this thing about mustaches made out of food. (?) It's a mystery.





I let him plan his own party today.



He was being a pill- about taking a picture- but I had actually showered and gotten cute for these photo ops today... so I made him take one with me.





(My family back east haven't seen my new bob- haircut. "Do I look like a mom of the month?")





Okay - but back to Hatricks party plans.


the menu










The entertainment...


a little Star Wars Bingo










Pin the light saber on Yoda.


and a treasure scavenger hunt around our townhouse complex...












The best part of all donuts instead of cake. I had them arranged in a pyramid with candles. It was nice. Nothing fancy- and just what he wanted. (My 11 year old was helping me by taking pictures- no picture of the donuts. :0)


Now I need to re-claim the house. Company comes tomorrow!!